In the Semi-Final of the Northumberland Colts County Cup, the combined Under 17 and 18 squad took on the much fancied League leaders of the Saturday 'A' league in this semi final. Alnwick, beaten only once this season came out of the starting blocks quickly and had most of the possession for the first 10 minutes.

However, as with so much of the time they had on the ball, they could not penetrate the Park defence. Park were pinged by a whistle happy ref, who, whilst fair to both sides showed his in experience by not having eyes in the back of his head which is often needed at this level. The resulting penalty was converted by the Alnwick number 10 from the 10 metre line with a following wind.

This brought the Park lads alive who turned up the heat accordingly and tried to run everything through their lively backs. A combination of over exuberance and bad decision making meant that we did not get our first points on the board until the 20 minute mark. A series of penetrating runs involving 10 and 12 eventaully led to a break which saw Matty Dale close on hand to receive the ball and dive for the line. Robert Mutch converted.

This game saw Joe Wafer return to the front row which allowed our back row of Max Smith, Austin Phillips and Robert Neasham to operate together whilst still giving Joe scope to roam. The downside of his was poor defence around rucks and mauls with no one standing guard. this meant that Alnwick infringed continaully and got away with it. This led to a sin binning in the second half which was harsh. The game continued to half time in the same vein. Park attacking from anywhere but not managing to cross the line. The firt half saw us lose Ross after a clash of heads.

Half time saw Ben Smith, back after a lengthy injury come off with Robert Neasham eventually going into 12 with Johnny  coming into the back row. After a prolongued spell, which saw Alnwick unable to visit our 22 other than through lineouts forced from the too many penalties we gave away. The forwards worked well and from a ruck several yards out, Mark Hall crashed over for the final try which Robert Mutch again converted. The second half saw all of our subs brought on. It must be said here, that more than 22 boys turned up and we must thank those who did not feature in the named 22. It is always difficuly to leave people out but in Cup rugby we have no choice. As a squad, we have always taken heart from the fact that we are strong and the lads who do not get on the pitch support those who do......thank you.

With about 15 minutes to go, Jon Kidd came into the front row. 2 minutes later at a ruck,one of their back row decided to join the ruck from the side and shoulder charge Jon, who retaliated by shouldering him back whilst he was still standing in an offside position. The call coud have gone either way but the ref decided to yellow card both players.

With the game drawing to a close, Park went to sleep and the Alnwick right winger stepped out of several tackles and ran in a consolation try which was no more than they deserves. The score could have really been wider but all credit to a strong Alnwick side. The final is on April 26th at Blyth and will be between the winners of Ponteland and Tynedale who play at Pont, this sunday April 5th at 12.30.